Chapter 63: Chapter 63

KAIST:

It has been a month since the banquet where I had becoming acquainted with the mysterious and haughty daughter of Count Jeteris. Since then, I had been doing my best to find out about what she said.

“Pelle, is there anything you have to report to me today,” I told my secretary, who also happened to be my loyal escort.

“Unfortunately, sire, there’s nothing. Count Abell has been doing his business as usual. He is meeting traders and business partners in the morning and then going home in the afternoon to his wife.”

“How about Lady Jeteris? Is she doing anything suspicious?”

“No… Ever since she started working alongside Count Abell, she hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary so far…”

I tossed Pelle’s report at the top of my table in the study. “Very well. You may go.”

“Alright, sire.” He bit his lower lip for a while before bowing down as if he wanted to say something, but he was stopping himself.

“Go ahead, and just say it,” I said, “what is it?”

“Um… Isn’t it a good thing, sire, if there weren’t anything suspicious? It means Lady Hurst, I mean Countess Abell, is in good hands right?”

“Well… Hopefully,” I told him dryly, after which, he bowed again and excused himself.

I reached out for my head and touched my temples. How can I be at peace if I know that something must be off with that Tristan Abell? The presence of Count Jeteris’ daughter at his side wasn’t a pleasant idea too…

I wondered how Dahlly might be feeling now…

Thinking of her won’t do me any good. I must see her for myself so that my heart can be at peace, but how should I go about seeing her without her husband knowing about it?

Last time I was visited her with his full knowledge, I sensed traces of magic from that scoundrel. Although I couldn’t find any tangible evidence to accuse him of tampering with black magic yet, I knew it was him. I could smell the stench of his wolf hovering close to where we were at, spying on our conversation.

Fortunately, Dahlly is still under the White Fang Pack, and although I am not yet the official alpha, I could still use mind-link to reach her now that her wolf has awakened.

‘Alright, let’s see if that’ll work,’ Cruz said, licking his paws in our shared consciousness. I could feel his excitement to meet our mate again.

I concentrated into projecting the voice in my head towards Dahlly’s consciousness.

‘Dahlia, do you hear me?...’

My heart was pounding fast, and it went faster when I heard a voice speak back.

‘Um… K-Kaist?’

‘Yes. Glad I could finally talk to you like this!’ Indeed, the things we were not able to do before had already became possible since Dahlia’s wolf had become awakened. Eva must really be getting stronger by the day.

‘Listen,’ I continued since the power of a mind-link usually consumed a lot of energy, and I didn’t know how long Dahlly’s wolf can maintain hers. ‘Are you free today? I want to meet you.’

‘Uh… Yes, alright. I’ll tell Tristan you want to -’

‘No. I want to see only you. I’ll come by soon.’

In ten minutes, I reached Dahlly’s house.

As I descended from my horse into the villa’s side gate, I saw Dahlly waiting for me. It made my heart float in happiness.

“Countess, were you waiting for long,” I said after we were done with the formal greetings.

“No, don’t worry, Prince Kaist,” she said, grinning beautifully, “I figured you’d come by through here, so I notified the knights posted in this gate. Then, I decided to wait since I had nothing better to do.”

We started to walk along the lush garden of the villa, a past time we had always shared before that good-for-nothing Tristan came to ruin our fun.

Dahlly looked up to me with curious eyes. “Why did you want to see me out of the blue?”

I could feel my ears reddening deeply. “I heard Lady Jeteris had started working as your husband’s secretary… So, I just wanted to know if you’re alright…”

Her face broke into a smile, but the happiness it bore did not quite touch her eyes.

“I’m alright... Tristan’s at work most of the time, and my study had started, so we’re both busy in the morning. I don’t have a lot of time to think or to be sad about things, if that’s what you’re worried about…”

“Are you alright that that woman is beside your husband all the time? Wasn’t she the woman in the study room from before?”

Dahlly’s eyes rounded in surprise. “H-How did you -?”

“How did I find out it was her? She approached me at the party and declared her intentions. I’ve asked Pelle to keep an eye on her every move too.”

“I see… Since you’re monitoring her, I guess I’ve got nothing to worry, my prince… Thank you for your concern all this time.”

Dahlly’s face fell. I hated to see her feeling dejected like this.

“Did you talk to your husband about it? If you can’t do it, do you want me to do it for you,” I offered.

What did I just say? Was I crazy?!...

On the other hand, I could have the excuse to finally punch that man in the face for Dahlia if she’ll let me!

Dahlly only took my offer in jest. “And you’ll tell him what? That we saw them in the study, and that I didn’t have the courage to confront them back then?... To be honest, Kaist, I had already asked Tristan what his relationship was with her, and I had spoken to Lady Jeteris about this, but those talks didn’t make me feel any better…”

“Maybe you didn’t tell them properly how you really felt about this that’s why you didn’t feel better, Dahlia… It’s not bad to let your emotions run wild and to be angry once in a while, especially for things like this… No one would be able to blame you.”

Since Dahlly and I were young, we were always taught to exercise caution against the display of our emotions to the point that it gave me pent up anger while Dahlly would normally cover her hurt with silence, just like what she was doing now.

She looked down on the ground, and the morose ambiance between us continued.

“How’s everything at the palace? I heard news that there are vigilante killings going on against the Vampire clan. Is that true?”

Changing topics was clearly Dahlia’s attempt to dispel the sadness in her heart, so I went by it.

“Yes. It first came to our knowledge during the peace talks with the Vampire clan. This particular week, the vigilante attacks had been more active, and they left more traces for us too.”

That’s right. The vigilante killings were highly suspicious. If they were a secret group, I expected them to do their killings with more precision, but they had been sloppy. Numerous letters and the traces of their scents have been discarded at the scenes of the crimes. It was as if they were begging to be caught...

The most suspicious part of it all was that all pieces of evidence point towards Count Jeteris.

I knew the man was cruel, but I never thought that he was this careless at all… It was as if he was being framed too obviously, but as to who was behind it, no one still knew, not even the count in question.

“Maybe I could help. I am beginning to study trace medicine, and I wanted to develop my Eva’s instinct further. If I could identify the smell of the wolves involve, I could probably give you a clearer profile.”

I smiled. My Dahlly was really a very selfless and helpful person. She could have made a wonderful queen…

‘It’s not too late for that,’ Cruz grumbled inside our head.

‘Soon she will be our queen… It’s not the time yet though,’ I responded.

That’s right. Perhaps, if Lady Livia’s words were true, the time would come when Dahlly herself will come right back to me. Until then though, there’s no reason for me to avoid her or push her away.

“Do you really want to help us, doctor,” I asked. “Then, come with me today. I’ll take you to the investigation site with me.”